Libby
An animal bite can transmit nasty bacteria which can cause a serious blood infection. If such an infection were left to progress, all manner of symptoms and even death could result. Whether human or animal, is it possible that a bite from a four legged critter, resulting in the transmission of bacteria into the bloodstream, could progress into what may look like what we call rabies?
You can't vaccinate against a bacteria as far as I know. (Which is why talk about a vax for Lyme disease in the future, for example , makes no sense to me.)
I too question the existance of a virus. No unadulterated sample from an infected patient can be reproduced, then reintroduced into a healthy patient , with the result of reinfection. The operative word is "unadulterated."